People of the Road: honoring the railroad workers who carried Milwaukee’s name across the country on rails
Railroads are regularly immortalized by depictions of trains and rails. We are paying tribute to the individuals who gave the Milwaukee Railroad life.
Final installation of the sculptures was completed in July 2020. A plaque recognizes supporters who contributed $1,000 or more.
In 2015, local artist Richard Taylor was commissioned to construct an ambitious five-sculpture monument to honor and celebrate the thousands of workers who built the locomotives and rail cars made in Milwaukee. Fundraising and the project installation was completed in July 2020. The long history of the Milwaukee Road railroad shops spans from 1848 to 1985. People of the Road is a powerful reminder of the role the Milwaukee Road and their employees played in the history of Milwaukee and beyond.
These towering steel structures link the landscape to its history and pay tribute to the people of the Road by using silhouettes from archived photographs.
Artist Richard Taylor at final installation in July 2020.
Photo: Eddee Daniel
Hear Richard Taylor discuss this work of art:
fundraising efforts
We did it! Thanks to the generous donations of so many, the Friends of Hank Aaron State Trail have completed their $250,000 fundraising campaign and the five sculptures were fully installed as of July 2020.
Your support helped realize this tribute to the People of the Road and create a historical monument at the location where the Milwaukee Road operated for more than 100 years.
A donor plaque recognizing supporters who contributed $1,000 or more is alongside the installation.
If you are interested in contributing towards the maintenance fund for artwork along the Trail to assist with removing graffiti, conservation & restoration, you can do so in the following ways.
or Donate via check
Make out checks to:
Friends of Hank Aaron State Trail
PO Box 35
Milwaukee, WI 53201
INSPIRATION
Samples of Milwaukee Road photos served as a source of material for silhouettes in the model. All figures were drawn from Milwaukee Road photos.
Rendering of the "People of the Road" monument
Richard Taylor’s design celebrates the thousands of workers who assembled locomotives, boxcars, and passenger cars in the Milwaukee Road’s Menomonee Valley shops. Thousands more worked on the trains in many capacities, from engineers and conductors to chefs, hostesses, and station agents.
The People of the Road are unified not only in their work and respective attire, but by an overlaying pattern of tracks that speak to their common purpose. The figures are meant to be seen from all sides. They invite viewers to walk around them, to see the industrial backbones of steel that not only give them sculptural strength but serve as metaphors for the backbone they gave the local economy and their own lives.
The solid supporting elements of the sculptures recall other pieces of history from the railroad. A track side water tower, grain elevator, roundhouse, crate, locomotive, and steam cylinders refer to the many pieces of infrastructure necessary to make the railroad function. The architecture of these elements lends backdrop and footing to the cast of workers, as they did in real life.
Raised relief details illustrating the Milwaukee Road’s logos, the Hiawatha icon, and the years of the railway help to remind the viewer of the rich history of the local rails.
Railroads are already immortalized by depictions of trains and rails, but the true honor due to the Milwaukee Road lies in paying tribute to the individuals who gave it life.
A gathering celebrating the installation of the first two sculptures took place in May of 2019. The monument is located near the corner of West Canal Street and West Milwaukee Road where the Milwaukee Road Rail Shops' chimneys once stood. Now along the Hank Aaron State Trail, it is a highly visible area with hikers, joggers, cyclists, and between 6,000 to 7,700 cars passing by daily. Photo: Chris Maertz
A promotional film produced for the Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad) detailing railroad operations from day to day. Start at 11:25 to see the people of the Milwaukee Road shops in action.
History
The Rail Shops are an important part of Milwaukee's history. In the early 1900s, the railroad was the largest employer in Milwaukee employing 5,500 of its famously skilled and dedicated workers in the Menomonee Valley. Many of them lived and raised their families in the surrounding neighborhoods.
In 2010, the last vestiges of the Milwaukee Road Rail Shops, the chimneys, were demolished due to structural issues and concern for public safety. The chimneys had stood as a visual historical reminder of this history. A small amount of interpretive signage along the trail continues to tell the story, but a strong, engaging visual statement is missing.
Photo: Ha Nguyen
Overhead view of the Milwaukee Road Shops property with the 35th Street viaduct running across the middle of the image. The former chimneys are on the west side of the viaduct. All structures relating to the Milwaukee Road are now gone. (Milwaukee Road was the commonly used name for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad.)
Photo: Greg Mross
about the artist
Richard Taylor is a native of Milwaukee, with commissioned work located around the country. He has worked with many organizations over the years to integrate his sculptural work into specific settings.
Learn more about Richard Taylor at his website.
Read an interview with the artist in the Milwaukee Independent.
Richard Taylor and Dan Adams, FOHAST Board President, during a visit to Taylor’s studio.
Anonymous Fund and Mary L. Nohl Fund
gifts $1,000+
Anonymous
Cheri & Tom Briscoe
David & Diane Buck in honor of the artist, Richard Taylor
Adam F. Carr & Glenna K. Holstein
RP & JL Carr Family
Charter Manufacturing/The Mellowes Family
Robert Crisp
Friends of Hank Aaron State Trail in honor of Melissa Cook, Trail Manager
Giese Law Offices in memory of Heinz E. Giese, who was a Milwaukee Road telegrapher from 1955 until 1983 and Zack J. Storey, first African-American switchman to work at Muskego Yard
Mick & Lisa Hatch in honor of Melissa Cook
Heil Family Foundation
Bruce, Diane, Eli, Isak and Shayna Keyes in honor of Melissa Cook, Trail Manager
Menomonee Valley Partners
Milwaukee District Garden Clubs
Palermo Villa, Inc.
The Pierce Children in honor of Richard Pierce, Daniel Pierce, and Richard O'Gar Jr.
The Saints Andrew & Mark Charitable Gift Trust
Jan Serr & John Shannon, Guardian Fine Art
In Honor of Melissa Cook:
Dan Adams & Nora O'Connell Adams
Steve Brachman
William Bradley
Mike & Donna Brady
Janet Carr
Eddee Daniel
Judy Dollhausen
Jerome Flogel
Mick & Lisa Hatch
Kristine Hinrichs & John Rodee
Larri and Steve Jacquart
Bruce & Diane Keyes
Michelle Kramer
Judy Krause & Susan Winans
JM Mead
Rick Meyer
Laura Mueller
Bob Peschel
Pickruhn Family
Mark Plichta
Karen Sands
Mirtha Sosa Pacheco
Judy Springer
Chris Steinkamp
Dan Sterk
Mary Timm
Wheel & Sprocket
Corey Zetts
gifts up to $999
G. R. Affeldt
CBRE Foundation
Cindy Angelos
Anonymous
Anonymous in memory of Art & Don
Jonathan & Barbara Blick
Joe Boblick
Kathleen Bruecker
Cargill Milwaukee
Melissa Cook
Melissa Dorn Richards
Jean Gajewski in memory of James Komberec
Hatch Family Charitable Fund at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation
Harvey Henkelmann
Sally Heuer
John S. Heywood
Steve Keiller
Peter Lee
Jill & Chris Maertz in memory of her grandfather who spent his life working for the railroad
Barry Mainwood
Mike Maschek
Shane Moisio
Richard Piehl
Mary & Jon Reddin
Erin Terbeek in honor of Rogene Borzyskowski for fostering my love of trains
Debra Timm
Carol Tumey
Ron and Kathy Verkuilen
Peter Zanghi
Ann Zientek in memory of James Komberec
share your stories
Over the years, we have heard many stories of people reminiscing about the Milwaukee Road and watching the trains from the 35th Street Viaduct. We want to capture your stories! Please share below and include your email or send us a note at fohast@gmail.com.
Art on the Trail
Public art invigorates public spaces and helps to engage the community. It draws people onto the Trail, creates a recognizable identity, and links the landscape to the history, architecture, and social fabric of Milwaukee.
Art can be used to tell our story, honor our history, or explain an environmental concept in a creative and engaging way. It can create a more inviting space, for what may seem to some, an unfamiliar space.
Over time, several pieces of artwork have been developed specifically for the Hank Aaron State Trail. Please enjoy photos of the existing artwork on this website, but better yet, see them in person. Read on to learn more about the Milwaukee Road Monument, a sculptural work honoring the workers that carried Milwaukee’s name across the country on rails.
